


Picking up the Pieces

by DemonDeepFried



Category: X-Men (Movies), X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - Fandom, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: (Erik x Reader), (Not Charles), Abusive Relationships, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Mutant Powers, Mutant Reader, Mutants, mutant!reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-28
Updated: 2015-08-28
Packaged: 2018-04-17 17:19:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4674995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemonDeepFried/pseuds/DemonDeepFried
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You and Erik had been dating for a little over a year when you found out that he was using you for his power- feeding off of your energy to better himself. After that, you fell into a depression you never thought you’d conquer. <br/>Not until Charles offered a hand, of course.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Picking up the Pieces

You’d first started to notice when you realised how tired you were feeling lately. It had began to build up and build up until you were sleeping entire days off. Everybody else had noticed and were all asking you if you were alright, concerned.

Brushing them all off, you shrugged it off as a cold or something and continued your days.

Erik was getting stronger, you realised, his powers greatening and the man was bending giant satellite dishes in half before you knew it. While you always supported him and acknowledged his accomplishments, sometimes you couldn’t help but note that he wasn’t doing the same.

If he ever took even a vague interest in another person, it was usually Raven.

That hurt.

Even more than the blinding stomach pain you could feel at the moment as you clutched your chest and groaned into your pillow.

The two of you had been in a long-term relationship for some months now and you knew: Erik was the love of your life. You were going to marry him some day. You’d never felt this way about another person before and you knew that everything about him was perfect.

But crawling off your bed now and trying to call out for help, you fell into a deep dark unconscious where nothing was perfect.

* * *

“Y/N.”

The voice comes faintly, as though from a distant and through a thick cloud of fog. But its still soft and comforting, and you feel yourself drawn to it.

Inhaling deeply and shakily, you blink open your eyes and murmur groggily, “Erik?”

The small smidge of hope you felt that Erik might be by your side, dissipated quickly when your vision cleared and you could make out Charles.

“S-sorry,” he mumbled, dropping your hand- you hadn’t even realised he’d been holding it. “I know I’m not who you want to see right now-”

“No!” you interjected, because as much as you wanted Erik, Charles was still one of your closest friends, “Please, I want you with me. Stay with me, Charles.”

Acquiescing with a dutiful nod and a warm smile, the professor sat back down and took your hand up in his again. At your question of what was wrong with you, he looked down uncomfortably and chewed his lip. “That’s…” he started, trying to gather the right words, “Hank looked into your lack of energy lately because we’re pretty sure that  _this_  and  _that_  are tied in together. And…he thinks he knows what’s wrong…”

Charles didn’t seem to want to continue so your urged him with a light squeeze of your hand. “It’s OK, Charles,” you murmured to him, offering a small smile, “You can tell me.”

Taking a deep breath and avoiding your gaze, Charles went on, “Your ability to control and harness energy is a remarkable one. But, through certain– _ways_ –, a person might be able to siphon off of your energy and leave you…well, like this.”

“What  _ways_?” you asked, adding, “And who would do that?”

Ducking his head even further, he answered, “There’s only one way Hank has been able to find. He discovered some traces of the metal, Infestium, in your blood stream. Infestium, when in gasilic form (between the process of condensing and evaporating,) can in fact absorb energy and then the metal contains the energy- only someone with an intimate control over that metal could benefit from the energy. As your body contains so much energy, it would take several months at that rate to leech enough from you to leave you in a state like this.

"Three months to be exact.”

Searching your mind, you looked back at him and said, “I can’t remember anything happening three months ago.”

Sighing, as though he did  _not_ want to be the one telling you this, he continued, “Infestium is a very rare, very hard to come-by metal. In fact, the only way for it to be found at all is for a large amount of transitional metals to be combined together with enough force to collide an atom, and then torn apart again- generating the interior vacuum that inevitably absorbs energy.

”…And to do that is inhumanly possible.“

It took a moment to process his words.

Then, you looked up at him, aghast. "Are-are you saying– are you saying that…Erik? No! You’re wrong! He would never do that to me!”

But as you thought it over, it just made more and more sense: the nights you fell asleep before Erik, the smell of peculiar metal tinting the air; the flirtations between him and Raven as if you didn’t even matter; the quick dismissals; the uninterested reactions to your accomplishments; the sudden greaten of his abilities; the fatigue- the  _exhaustion_.

“He told me he loved me…”

* * *

Soon after that incident, Charles and the rest of the X-Men made sure that Erik was sent packing- which everyone agreed was for the best, until he took Raven with him.

Your energy was now starting to refill itself again- though Hank had pointed out that if you made a conscious effort, it would go a lot quicker- but it didn’t ease the pain in your heart or the dried tears on your cheeks.

Days went by without you eating.

Or sleeping.

Or speaking.

In the mornings, Angel would come into your room and wake you up- usually just to see you up already- and try to coax you into a conversation.

Alex would bring up your breakfast and lunch on a little blue tray and sit with you until you ate something.

While the others were training, Sean would visit you and deal you both into a game of poker, playing one-man when you ignored the cards thrust into your hands.

After dinner, Darwin would come up with your meal and chat about the weather, how the others were doing and make jokes you would normally laugh at.

When Hank finally went to bed of a night (somewhere between 2:00 and 4:00AM usually) he would always check around your door to see if you were asleep. And if not, he would read to you until your eyes slipped shut.

Charles was always by your side, it seemed, though he had a mansion with five kids in it to run. When you wouldn’t listen to him talk, he entered your mind to speak. When you couldn’t think through your tears, he held you tight against him until it stopped. When you thought about just giving up entirely, he told you you were an idiot and recited every little thing he loved about you.

Depression seemed like a deep, black, inescapable hole some days.

On others, it seemed like an unstoppable force- driving towards you.

But on most, you simply didn’t care.

* * *

The first time in a month that you came down the stairs and into the kitchen, was a milestone that lifted everyone’s spirits.

You didn’t even know what moved you to finally do such a menial thing as joining them for breakfast, but regardless you took pleasure in the feeling it gave you to be able to bask in the glorious amber lighting and the smell of fresh pancakes and bacon again.

From then on, Charles encouraged you to do more and it wasn’t long until you found yourself running along a familiar path through the trees at 6:00AM with him.

“I’m so glad I came out of there,” you panted, shooting him a small smile.

“As am I,” he replied, returning yours with his own.

When the two of you finally come to a stop, its by the stone fountain, and you both collapse onto it.

“You know,” Charles began, “If you consciously focussed your energy, you wouldn’t be panting right now. Just transferring your environmental energy into kinetic energy could give you super speed. You could be the fastest woman on Earth, if you tried.”

Giving him a look, you said, “I’m sure. But I just don’t have the energy yet.”

“Bullshit,” the professor snapped, making you jump because he wasn’t normally one to use that kind of language. “I’m fed up of this, Y/N. I know what Erik did to you-  _and believe me, I have made sure he pays for it_ \- but you need to forget about him and focus on  _now_.

"Look around you, look who’s here with you, who’s been here with you for all this time and has tried to help you through all of this.  _Us_!

"Me.”

Charles swallowed thickly. “You have all the energy and more, but you need to work on it, practise it, train it. Think about all that you could do if you just  _tried_. Your power is the ability to control  _energy,_ the possibilities that brings are endless. If you harnessed the energy through solar rays, you could produce your own. If you channelled Alex’s plasma energy, you could  _help_  him learn to control it. If you focussed the energy in fire, water, air and plants-  _you could control the elements_!

"You have no idea what you’re wasting by locking yourself away all the live-long,” he told you, sitting down in front of you and taking your hands. “I know what you’ve been through. I’ve felt the pain inside you, but its time you opened your eyes and saw who’s here for you.

"Erik’s gone. But us? We’ve all been by your side this entire time, and there is not a chance in Hell that we will ever leave,” he said softly, “Its time you realise that.

And as you gazed deep into those rich, sky blue eyes, you did realise.

"Charles,” you whispered.

“I love you,” he blurted out, wetting his lips and searching your face.

A teary smile spread across your face and you only managed to get out the words, “I love you, too,” before his lips are on yours and you’re both falling backwards into the water fountain, surrounded by splashes and giggles.

* * *

**_Epilogue_ **

“These are my dollies.

This one’s called Betty and she has red hair and always wears the green dress with the sparkly buttons.

This one’s Rosie because she wears the pink dress with the pretty flowers on it.

This one’s Lucy, she has blonde hair and I plaited it. She likes to wear the blue dress.

Raven? Do you want to play with my dollies? We can play mums and dads and you can be the dad and I’ll be the mum, OK?”

Mystique growled and glared at the floor sulkily, replying only with a snappy,

“ _Shut up, Erik_.”


End file.
